The present invention relates to a method and apparatus to control the pickup (acceleration at start) on an uphill slope of an automotive vehicle provided with an automatic or robotised gearbox.
One of the main problems encountered in vehicles provided with automatic transmissions is the need to adapt the vehicle's behaviour to the driver's needs and requirements, which normally implies the capability to understand and anticipate the driver's intentions. In the case of the pickup of an automotive vehicle on an uphill slope, an automatic gearbox of the conventional type is not controlled any differently compared to normal movement on horizontal ground, whereby the friction clutch that connects the engine to the driving wheels is engaged at the same speed as the engine hence this takes place during horizontal movement, only according to the accelerator pedal. This causes anomalous and uncomfortable behaviour of the automotive vehicle, as well as implying the risk of undesired slipping in the clutch and consequent damage to it. Such a situation is not found in the case of an automotive vehicle with a manual gearbox, since in such a case it is the driver who, for pickup from a stationary position on an uphill slope, recognises the different operating condition and anticipates the clutch manoeuvre modulating the accelerator and clutch pedals better.
In order to solve the aforementioned problem, the possibility to automatically recognise the condition of pickup on an uphill slope could be considered, measuring the time that elapses between the moment in which the driver keeps the brake pedal pressed and the moment in which he/she presses the accelerator pedal. In particular, it could be considered that a lower value of the aforementioned interval of time than a pre-determined threshold value is indicative of the presence of a condition of pickup on an uphill slope. Such an approach is however limiting, since it is not able to modulate the intervention according to the actual operating conditions and since it then requires the complication of excluding an intervention of this type in the case of pickup on horizontal ground.